South Wiltshire is due to benefit from a substantial growth in international visitors in 2020 and beyond, due to increased numbers travelling along the Great West Way.

South Wiltshire will see an influx of international visitors in 2020 due to the extensive travel, trade and marketing activity undertaken by England’s Great West Way in overseas markets.

The Great West Way, between London and Bristol, was launched at World Travel Market in November 2018 as the world’s first multi-modal touring route, encouraging visitors to travel the way by road, rail, water, on foot or by bike. The route includes many of England’s best-known icons including Windsor, Stonehenge, Bath and The Cotswolds, and encourages curious international visitors to explore these iconic destinations as well as towns and villages off the beaten track.

Alongside this promotion of north and central Wiltshire, Salisbury and South Wiltshire have also benefitted from the wide range of consumer, PR and travel trade marketing activity. This has included hosting travel trade and press visits and promotion at the Great West Way Marketplace, an event that connects the tourism trade with international group travel trade buyers and other key travel trade events throughout the year.

Other activity includes references in the Great West Way Travel Trade Directory, the official Rough Guide to the Great West Way, and inclusion in digital and social activity.

As a direct result of the Great West Way, South Wiltshire, and Salisbury, are currently included in 34 travel trade programmes being sold by 19 tour operators in 9 countries including the UK and USA, Australia, Canada, France, Germany, the Netherlands.

JacTravel is the world’s fastest-growing and second largest B2B travel provider worldwide and is just one of the tour operators currently selling a Great West Way programme. This programme features Salisbury Cathedral and Stonehenge as well as an overnight stay in the Salisbury area before taking visitors across north and west Wiltshire and on to Bath.

Florence Wallace, head of travel trade at Great West Way, said: “England’s Great West Way is proving extremely attractive to people overseas who are keen to experience a quintessentially English holiday. We have achieved great success in working with the travel trade this year.

"The new GWR Great West Way Discoverer pass includes every rail station in Wiltshire and is already proving popular with international customers – they can buy an unrestricted 7-day pass for £129, which is great value for money. We now have over 70 domestic and international Great West Way Official Tour Operators who are developing, marketing and distributing on-brand Great West Way programmes and we look forward to welcoming many international visitors as a result.”

John Glen, MP for Salisbury, said: “It is great news that Salisbury has been added to the programmes of 34 new tour operators and I hope this will bring a fresh influx of visitors to appreciate all we have to offer.

“Salisbury is a wonderful destination in its own right and also perfectly positioned as a gateway to explore the whole region.”

The Great West Way is one of a number of successful projects to receive funding from the UK Government’s £40 million Discover England Fund, administered by VisitEngland. If you have any questions, please get in touch with Holly Windsor, PR and communication manager, email: Hollywindsor@GreatWestWay.co.uk | Telephone: 01722 324 888/07444 601 421

For more information on the Great West Way, visit: www.GreatWestWay.co.uk or access the Story of the Great West Way booklet via: www.GreatWestWay.co.uk/storyoftheGreatWestWay You can also view Jac Travel’s Great West Way itinerary by clicking on this LINK

Follow and engage with us on our social channels: Facebook @GreatWestWay, Instagram @GreatWestWay and Twitter @theGreatWestWay

Great West Way and England’s Great West Way are registered trademarks.